Lease Error analysis is a far more uncertain task.

"Even in the times when tenants are king, the landlord-tenant relationship is a delicate one. Neither party can afford to gratuitously irritate the other. Tenants should think twice before hiring a gunslinging stranger to challenge the income stream which the landlord is getting from his property… This is particularly so if the stranger has a contingency contract which means the consultant may claim a vested right to continue a challenge with which the tenant may not agree. It makes sense that the higher the contingency fee, the greater the risk for dispute between principal and agent.
Other issues which make contingent fee lease error challenges riskier
include:
· Consultants have significant incentive to oversell the no risk
aspect of the arrangement.
· If landlord wants to settle, the landlord may prefer a
non-cash quid pro quo as relieving tenant from burdensome lease covenant, resulting in a potential fee dispute with a contingent fee consultant.
· Even in cases when a landlord tries to settle a tenant
complaint with cash, which can be easily divided between the tenant and the consultant, it may be unclear as to whether the cash is new money or is money which landlord budgeted for tenant to induce renewal of the lease, or for some other purpose.
· The decision of how hard to push and when to settle can easily
be skewed in a contingent fee situation where the consultant has an incentive to score quickly and often – even if the amounts are less than might be obtained if the incentives were placed differently. The risks may go either way: a consultant may push too hard or not hard enough.
· A contingent fee consultant's aggressive assault may breed a
counterclaim by the landlord, resulting in the potential that the consultant recover 50% of his client's positive recovery, while the client is responsible for 100% of any liability which the party uncovers."
From Lease Audits: The Essential Guide, by Theodore Hellmuth, Esq.

For additional information about Lease Audits: contact www.houstonrealtyadvisors.net or www.houstonrealtyadvisor.com